Immigration Court “Status Docket” – the Secret Almost Alternative to Administrative Closure

by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 5, 2019 | FOIA, Immigration, Immigration Practice | 0 comments

We should have seen it coming. In 2018 the Attorney General ended the ability of immigration judges to administratively close cases, concluding they had in fact never had such authority. As shocking as that was at the time, we’re now seeing pieces of that puzzle...

Post-Pereira, the DOJ Chooses Harsh IJ Performance Metrics Over Compliance With Supreme Court Mandate

by Matthew Hoppock | Sep 20, 2018 | Immigration, Immigration Practice | 3 comments

It is starting to appear the Department of Justice has chosen not to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions because doing so would conflict with the agency’s self-imposed deportation quotas it is placing on Immigration Judges,...

FOIA Results: Immigration Judges’ Conference Materials for 2018

by Matthew Hoppock | Aug 21, 2018 | FOIA, Immigration, Immigration Practice | 1 comment

Every summer the Immigration Judges from around the country meet in suburban Washington D.C. for a training session. The training materials are interesting, because they help us understand the IJs’ thinking on specific issues. The 2018 conference was held at the...

“No Dark Courtrooms” is the Secret EOIR Policy That May Ruin Your Summer

by Matthew Hoppock | Jun 1, 2018 | Immigration, Immigration Practice, Removal Defense | 0 comments

Some concerning developments in the last few days require writing this post when we still don’t have all of the details. Apparently the Immigration Courts are implementing a system of “No Dark Courtrooms,” which may mean Immigration Courts operating...

Here is the Old Immigration Judge Benchbook

by Matthew Hoppock | Jul 3, 2017 | Immigration, Immigration Practice | 3 comments

May 15, 2020 Update: received today a DVD with what the EOIR says is the entire benchbook (the thing they put online last year in response to our FOIA was incomplete). The .zip file is here. April 14, 2018 Update: In response to our FOIA (and following having to...

Here is the Current Immigration Judge Bench Book (Sort Of)

by Matthew Hoppock | Jul 3, 2017 | FOIA, Immigration, Immigration Practice | 0 comments

Sometime in Mid-April, 2017, the Department of Justice removed the “Immigration Judge Bench Book” from the internet. Why? They won’t say. We’ve been trying to figure that out and to reconstruct this book as a resource for practitioners. For...